"If you're looking for authentic Celtic music, Logical Fleadh is the group to call. This energetic, talented group makes you feel as if you're back in Ireland." - Mary Jean Bankmann, Geneva Cultural Arts Commission
Since 2008, Character Fleadh has honored Celtic traditions while forging its own path. The band’s spirited approach to traditional Irish and Scottish folk music is exuberant, sophisticated, and full of… character.
Founding guitarist/vocalist Ethan Sellers has guided Character Fleadh through various line-up changes while maintaining a top-quality ensemble comprised of some of the Chicago area's finest Irish and Scottish musicians. Starting as an exclusively-instrumental fiddle/guitar duo, Character Fleadh gradually expanded its line-up and learned hours and hours of traditional instrumental and vocal repertoire, playing regional festivals, concert series, and private events.
Character Fleadh's past gigs include Gaelic Park Irish Fest in Oak Forest, Peoria Irish Fest, Nevin's Pub in Evanston, Beverly Arts Center, Fiddler's Hearth in South Bend, Durty Nellie's in Palatine, Loyola University Chicago, Kalamazoo College, Palatine's inaugural Irish Parade, Skokie Public Library, College of Lake County, Duke's Alehouse in Crystal Lake, Lincolnwood Public Library, and many others.
Character Fleadh operates as a collective whose core members include Sellers, Emily Albright (fiddle, vocals), Dana Joras (flutes, whistles, vocals), Joe Kilroy (tenor banjo, mandolin, bouzouki), Pat Buzby (bodhran), and Nathan Britsch (bass). Other members join the band from time to time on fiddle, concertina/accordion, and Uilleann pipes.
Character Fleadh recently collaborated on a recording with art rock band Tautologic to create Logical Fleadh. The Logical Fleadh project was funded by both the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. The resulting album fuses Character Fleadh’s vigorous and fun-loving approach to acoustic traditional music with Tautologic’s world music and rock-inspired rhythm section. Logical Fleadh also feature prestigious special guests like Grammy-winning cellist Nick Photinos, Seán O'Riada Gold medal winner Seán Gavin, and Solas co-founder and accordionist John Williams.
Logical Fleadh is an album over a quarter century in the making. The initial flash of inspiration came in 1996, when Logical Fleadh bandleader Ethan Taylor Sellers and his father attended an early concert by Irish-American super-group Solas in Philadelphia. Amazed by Solas music's precision, speed, and beauty, Sellers was instantly a fan.
As a listener, Sellers subsequently followed the "family tree" of related projects to broaden his knowledge of traditional Irish, Scottish, and other Celtic music. Sellers also began penning a series of original compositions that reflected this influence, occasionally performing them with his rock band Tautologic.
After more than a decade of listening and co-curricular dabbling in Irish/Scottish music, Sellers decided to make a serious go of it with Character Fleadh in 2009. Starting as an exclusively-instrumental fiddle/guitar duo, Character Fleadh gradually expanded its line-up and learned hours and hours of traditional Irish/Scottish songs and instrumental repertoire, playing regional festivals, concert series, and private events.
After a few years, Sellers began to get the impression that some of his bandmates in Tautologic - Emily Albright (fiddle, vocals), Pat Buzby (drums, bodhran), and Nathan Britsch (bass) - wanted in on the action. Dana Joras (flutes, whistles, vocals) and Joe Kilroy (tenor banjo, mandolin, bouzouki) from Character Fleadh were both amenable to a "cross-over" collaboration. Logical Fleadh - a mash-up of Tautologic and Character Fleadh - was born.
Logical Fleadh gigged and rehearsed for nearly two years before recording most of the album in a 2-day session at Rax Trax Recording. Over the course of the next two years, Sellers worked around busy schedules and a pandemic to complete overdubs by each band member and an array of special guests, including Tautologic electric guitarist Jay Montana, violist Chuck Bontrager, Grammy-winning cellist Nick Photinos, Seán O'Riada Gold medal winner Seán Gavin, and Solas co-founder and accordionist John Williams.
Grammy-nominated engineer Rick Barnes mixed and mastered the album.
Logical Fleadh received funding from both the Illinois Arts Council and the City of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
The tracks on Logical Fleadh marry Irish/Scottish tunes/songs with a driving rock rhythm section - connecting tradition to the present day.
